There is a close relationship between teacher quality and the quality of education.Yet little is known in Colombia about the quality of teachers.In this paper we ask about the academic standard of people who obtain a tertiary degree in education.Results show a negative relationship between results in the standarized test to enter higher education (ICFES) and the probability of obtaining a tertiary degree in education (relative to other areas of study).We estimate that this probability is five-times higher for people with results among the lowest scores than for people with results among the highest.This difference broadens when we consider only women.Higher returns in alternative ocupations for high-ability women, and a compressed wage distribution for teachers would explain the lower academic standard of people entering teaching that we observe.